Hobby sheep owners do a disservice to the lamb industry. They dump lambs on the market that are usually produced at a financial lose. They have no clue what their cost of production is and the hobby is subsidized by off farm income. Producers that are in the business of lamb production have to compete with the supply of hobby lambs that show up at the sale barn. On the east coast, a large percentage of lambs come from hobby farms. In addition to that, hobby farmers often raise animals that produce sub standard carcasses that result in a disappointing eating experience for the consumer.
There is a lot of blame to go around for why there are so many of these problems. There are too many “educational” channels out there that are telling people they can just buy sheep or goats and offload them on pasture and let them go. People honestly go into this thinking it’s easy and there is very little to making “big money”. The only people making money from this nonsense are the people making the videos telling people they don’t have to properly care for animals. Some of the animals I’ve seen go through the sale barn aren’t fit to feed to anyone and frankly shouldn’t even sell. Unfortunately, supply is low and sometimes buyers just don’t care. Most buyers at our sale barns are brokers and not the actual down stream consumer (so they don’t care). Another consideration many people don’t account for is time. Your time is worth money rather you like it or not. Lastly, profit margins are extremely thin and people do not consider costs of medications, grain, transport, and losses. Conservatively speaking, I would assume 95-99% of hobby farms do not make ANY profit. We try to encourage people to start very small and consider keeping animals for enjoyment as a hobby or for personal consumption.
In our area customers are the easy part….finding an FDA butcher to process through is in desperate shortage in our area. The alternative is using the auctions and shooting craps. My solution is to go to specialized auctions for high end breeding rams and ewes. It is rarified and not many animals qualify but the reward makes up for all the other loses. Meat has become the secondary market and now we have decided to pursue the custom wool product. We just discovered this year that the breed we chose has one of the most highly prized wools for roving and yarn. So much so that it costs me 25 per lb to process and the product goes out at $22 per oz. less shipping costs. It’s coming together but it takes many many many many revenue streams and constant work work work, organization and when I’m exhausted…more work.
Remember the amount of time we spend working our butts off for about .25 cents a hour . Not to mention the heart breaking situation we aften deal with .
Seems to me that cutting out the middle man in feed supply, meaning generate your own feed is critical to making a profit or reducing cost of raising animals. My thought is having enough land to grow your own hay.
You are correct. This is a huge cost and most people pay big $$ for hay. If you are able to rotational graze and grow/put up some hay, you will have a much better chance of coming out ahead.
This is what we’re going to do next year. We have brahmans and we will be getting sheep soon so we have two acres we will grow corn and soybean and cotton seed hulls for them and buy the rest of our ingredients which isn’t a lot. I would love to be as self sufficient as possible .we also breed bulldogs and the dog food has gotten higher. Also collecting(a pond too) water and utilizing our electric source will also be some things we plan to enhance.
Good video. As a rough estimate I tell others the first kid is break even and any others are profit. So if a goat doesn't raise any kids I lost money on her, if she has 1 kid I break even and if she has twins I make the profit in the second kid if that makes sense. Triplets etc are hard to estimate profit as you stated. You don't make twice as much profit as twins. Seems like more costs and slower growth in triplets.
Thanks for the good points, Norm. We will be talking more about this in upcoming videos. We will also be talking to some new folks about losses as well and about how much of a hit you can take if you have an emergency vet visit, etc…. I like your idea though (one kid breaks even/second is a profit). That’s definitely a good rule of thumb.
I NEEEED to know where you are buying hay for $5 per bale or less! It has shot up to over $16 per small bale in our area. At that price I would hire a semi to ship a load here every year! Please don’t think I’m exaggerating or mocking…I am dead serious. I paid $80 per ton last year and the Federal Gov’t closed federal land to 4th generation hay farmers using that land and all hay in the are went up to $400-$700 per ton. We are literally running out trucks ragged trying to find cheaper hay and much of the cheaper hay turns out to be rotten weeds.
Wow. Yes, we are still paying $5 a small square for hay from our supplier for grass and legume mix. Good quality hay. This is what we don’t grow ourselves. If you would like his contact information, please send us an email at customerservice@linessafarms.com We will be happy to help you out.
@@LinessaFarms What part of the country are you from? I can make hay alll summer for $5 a bale and get wealthy doing it. I live in North west Minnesota. Maybe there is a way to truck long distance. I don't know
My biggest problem with my goats is the market in my area. I can not find a place that will get me a fair price on my goats. These small buyers need to rip me off to get paid. Frustrated
Yes…. Some areas have better markets than others. We see huge variations based on location and demographics. Hopefully you can find some local buyers that can buy direct from you and become repeat customers. This can be tough. Some folks end up shipping a considerable distance to get a good price.
so I'm not going to become a million air, NOW YOU TELL ME!!!! enjoying your information and the new blue screen. tax information, selling off of the farm, downfalls of stock barn sales, farm right offs and the list goes on. you know what needs to be covered because it's the same thing your doing on your place, thanks again for all you do
Hello fellow hoosier, I recently bought some land near Knox and just started getting into livestock. Anyways really enjoyed the video, look forward to watching more of them.
Hello, Richard. Thank you for watching our videos and thank you for taking the time to contact us. We are about an hour away from you in Rensselaer, IN. You are in a good location for sales given a unique demographic of customers. Your closest sale barn is in Rochester, IN and sales are held every Saturday at 11. If you are ever looking for stock or need any assistance, please let us know. Thanks!
Very good! We are hopeful you will get some useful information out of our series. Our next video in the series will pertain to breeding stock selection.
A really informative video! I’ve probably watched hundreds, and this is the first the really broke down the numbers in a way that new farmers need. Do you happen to have a sample cost analysis spreadsheet that I can download as a starting point? Thanks!!
We do not but this is something we are currently working on putting together. Thank you for the idea and thank you for taking the time to leave us a message. We appreciate it. 😬
Lol.im not thinking of making millions out of raising goats in my country.just wanted to stay healthy n young looking like you sir.anyway tnk you for the very informative vedios that you do.godbless you
Hello thanks for another informative video. Could you please help us with goat and sheep bedding? Specially on the summer time the ammonia smell on the shelter is horrible. What do you think about using stall refresher or DE? Thanks 😊
Airflow is the most important factor when it comes to keeping your shelter dry and clean. If you are experiencing ammonia or gas smells, chances are you don’t have adequate ventilation in your structure. Do your best to increase ventilation and developing a good equal amount of airflow across/through your shelter. We like to start with bare earth covered with a good amount of barn lime. We then cover with a thick layer of straw at least 4-6 inches thick. Also consider drainage and make sure anything wet will either drain or get absorbed through the ground. Depending on the amount of ventilation you have, you may need to consider fans or even an exhaust fan to pull air in and through.
On your last video we communicated about treating mange in my sheep. I received the Dectomax today. There are no instructions on dosage for sheep. Only for swine and cattle. What dosage should I give them? How many days apart? Thanks.
If you go to LinessaFarms.com and go to the downloads section you can find a bunch of different medication charts to include a sheep and goat worming chart that should have most medications and dosages listed. 👍🏻
Do you have a cost analysis spreadsheet? Maybe one that does projections? I noticed no one talks about labor hours. How much do you earn per hour on your livestock?
We have our own private books we keep but we do not delve into this topic too much, as some other channels do. There are so many topics and considerations to be made, it is difficult. For instance, we own our hay fields but do not own the equipment to make or harvest hay, so this is outsourced. We also mix our own feed, but we also own a feed company. Another major consideration is time, which can vary widely depending on the amount of people you have helping and the setup you have. Then of course there is the weather, which can affect the prices of feed very quickly. I do believe Grace aka the Sheppardess offers some financial paperwork.
We’ve attempted to grow only on pasture and they simply don’t grow as well without grain addition. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done successfully. I just think grain provides an extra boost.
It absolutely can be done on grass only but it is a bit more labor intensive , particularly with setup and the sheep grow to their full size but they grow more slowly. The upside is that tou don't get all the extra horn and hoof that grain grows which then needs to be trimmed and the animals are not consuming something that their bodies arent ready designed to digest. Also, according to Greg Judy, the grass fed meat lasts longer in the freezer
@@TomiaMacQueen this is what we keep hearing online. It sounds really good. Unfortunately, it’s simply not realistic for most people. There are simply too many variables in play for the “average” person. The cost of land, fencing, livestock, the fees people have to pay to get “certified” by third parties, climate…. While we do understand the Greg Judy’s of the world and see their appeal, we also try to be honest with our viewer and let them know what they should realistically expect. For the average person out there who experiences 4 seasons a year and owns a couple acres, they will be buying hay and can greatly improve the overall health and well being of their flock with grain and minerals. For all intents and purposes, these people are dry lotting their livestock and will need to focus on coccidia, parasites, etc… For those people who CAN pasture their animals primarily and maintain their overall health with no supplementation, we agree this is the best option. We stand by our title: Most of you will lose money. For the average person, this is a hobby that if ran correctly on a good year, will pay for itself. You are correct that any freshly processed meat that has not been gassed and manipulated, will last longer in the freezer (generally speaking).
I am thinking about get into goat 🐐 and sheep farming. I am thinking about buying the Kalahari Red goats and the Royal white sheep. Then maybe beef cattle, i am thinking about doing meat goats and sheep
There’s good years and bad years, feeding sack feed can break you, control worms and meds is a costly mistake if you don’t stay on top of it There really not our pets but for profit Breeding and keep only the best
We only raise feeder sheep just for meat. They eat very little feed and are on grass the entire time. The Katahdin sheep do very well here in south Texas.
Very nice. Thanks for watching our videos and for the comment. Hopefully you will pick up some helpful tips in the upcoming series which will help you continue your success.
Why in the world would I feed sheep hay 365 days per year? Grazing costs next to nothing if you own the land. You don't have to buy hay or feed hay. And grain also is totally unnecessary. I quit watching at that point, but I bet there was mention of deworming also because all gurus teach about deworming and probably something thrown in about shearing. Put hair sheep on pasture and do rotational grazing....no or minimal feed costs, no deworming and no shearing.....more profit per ewe.
You seem like you have a lot of insight so I’m sure you can accept the idea that a lot of our viewers don’t have land or resources to do what you’re describing. We were trying to make the point that not everyone is going to “make money” depending on their setup. We appreciate you watching our videos and taking the time to leave a message. It helps us out a lot.
Grazing varies in nutrients, not keeping that in mind is a great mistake and results in loss of production. The same with not following the right health regimen.
Hobby sheep owners do a disservice to the lamb industry. They dump lambs on the market that are usually produced at a financial lose. They have no clue what their cost of production is and the hobby is subsidized by off farm income. Producers that are in the business of lamb production have to compete with the supply of hobby lambs that show up at the sale barn. On the east coast, a large percentage of lambs come from hobby farms. In addition to that, hobby farmers often raise animals that produce sub standard carcasses that result in a disappointing eating experience for the consumer.
There is a lot of blame to go around for why there are so many of these problems. There are too many “educational” channels out there that are telling people they can just buy sheep or goats and offload them on pasture and let them go. People honestly go into this thinking it’s easy and there is very little to making “big money”. The only people making money from this nonsense are the people making the videos telling people they don’t have to properly care for animals. Some of the animals I’ve seen go through the sale barn aren’t fit to feed to anyone and frankly shouldn’t even sell. Unfortunately, supply is low and sometimes buyers just don’t care. Most buyers at our sale barns are brokers and not the actual down stream consumer (so they don’t care). Another consideration many people don’t account for is time. Your time is worth money rather you like it or not. Lastly, profit margins are extremely thin and people do not consider costs of medications, grain, transport, and losses. Conservatively speaking, I would assume 95-99% of hobby farms do not make ANY profit. We try to encourage people to start very small and consider keeping animals for enjoyment as a hobby or for personal consumption.
Not doing it for profit, I'm doing for food. This drought has made me do more than I wanted but, what hay I've bought was more for lessening my labor.
Great video. I’m late to the party but I’m enjoying the content
Better late than never. Thank you for watching and taking the time to leave a kind comment.
In our area customers are the easy part….finding an FDA butcher to process through is in desperate shortage in our area. The alternative is using the auctions and shooting craps. My solution is to go to specialized auctions for high end breeding rams and ewes. It is rarified and not many animals qualify but the reward makes up for all the other loses. Meat has become the secondary market and now we have decided to pursue the custom wool product. We just discovered this year that the breed we chose has one of the most highly prized wools for roving and yarn. So much so that it costs me 25 per lb to process and the product goes out at $22 per oz. less shipping costs. It’s coming together but it takes many many many many revenue streams and constant work work work, organization and when I’m exhausted…more work.
Yes. Unfortunately there are lots of people out there that tell aspiring sheep or goat farmers it is “easy money”.
What breed did you choose?
Remember the amount of time we spend working our butts off for about .25 cents a hour . Not to mention the heart breaking situation we aften deal with .
Seems to me that cutting out the middle man in feed supply, meaning generate your own feed is critical to making a profit or reducing cost of raising animals. My thought is having enough land to grow your own hay.
You are correct. This is a huge cost and most people pay big $$ for hay. If you are able to rotational graze and grow/put up some hay, you will have a much better chance of coming out ahead.
This is what we’re going to do next year. We have brahmans and we will be getting sheep soon so we have two acres we will grow corn and soybean and cotton seed hulls for them and buy the rest of our ingredients which isn’t a lot. I would love to be as self sufficient as possible .we also breed bulldogs and the dog food has gotten higher. Also collecting(a pond too) water and utilizing our electric source will also be some things we plan to enhance.
Also, you could rent some of them out for fire mitigation/weed control.
Good video. As a rough estimate I tell others the first kid is break even and any others are profit. So if a goat doesn't raise any kids I lost money on her, if she has 1 kid I break even and if she has twins I make the profit in the second kid if that makes sense. Triplets etc are
hard to estimate profit as you stated. You don't make twice as much profit as twins. Seems like more costs and slower growth in triplets.
Thanks for the good points, Norm. We will be talking more about this in upcoming videos. We will also be talking to some new folks about losses as well and about how much of a hit you can take if you have an emergency vet visit, etc…. I like your idea though (one kid breaks even/second is a profit). That’s definitely a good rule of thumb.
I NEEEED to know where you are buying hay for $5 per bale or less! It has shot up to over $16 per small bale in our area. At that price I would hire a semi to ship a load here every year! Please don’t think I’m exaggerating or mocking…I am dead serious. I paid $80 per ton last year and the Federal Gov’t closed federal land to 4th generation hay farmers using that land and all hay in the are went up to $400-$700 per ton. We are literally running out trucks ragged trying to find cheaper hay and much of the cheaper hay turns out to be rotten weeds.
Wow. Yes, we are still paying $5 a small square for hay from our supplier for grass and legume mix. Good quality hay. This is what we don’t grow ourselves. If you would like his contact information, please send us an email at customerservice@linessafarms.com
We will be happy to help you out.
@@LinessaFarms What part of the country are you from? I can make hay alll summer for $5 a bale and get wealthy doing it. I live in North west Minnesota. Maybe there is a way to truck long distance. I don't know
My biggest problem with my goats is the market in my area. I can not find a place that will get me a fair price on my goats. These small buyers need to rip me off to get paid. Frustrated
Yes…. Some areas have better markets than others. We see huge variations based on location and demographics. Hopefully you can find some local buyers that can buy direct from you and become repeat customers. This can be tough. Some folks end up shipping a considerable distance to get a good price.
Absolutely it can be fun a hobby nor a high profitable business
You are a great source of information
Enjoying your vlogs the farm visits are fabulous
Thank you. We are getting ready to do another farm visit next week!
You're doing awesome buddy! You're information is incredibly valuable! You're greatly appreciated, thanks for sharing! 🤙
Thank you very much for watching our videos and for the kind words. 😬
Our profit margin with our flock is pretty much just the farm deferral on our property taxes lol.
It's something, right! Lol.
That’s a big saving also
so I'm not going to become a million air, NOW YOU TELL ME!!!! enjoying your information and the new blue screen. tax information, selling off of the farm, downfalls of stock barn sales, farm right offs and the list goes on. you know what needs to be covered because it's the same thing your doing on your place, thanks again for all you do
Hello, Gerald! Thanks for the comment and for watching our videos as always.
Hello fellow hoosier, I recently bought some land near Knox and just started getting into livestock. Anyways really enjoyed the video, look forward to watching more of them.
Hello, Richard. Thank you for watching our videos and thank you for taking the time to contact us. We are about an hour away from you in Rensselaer, IN. You are in a good location for sales given a unique demographic of customers. Your closest sale barn is in Rochester, IN and sales are held every Saturday at 11. If you are ever looking for stock or need any assistance, please let us know. Thanks!
I dont do add on like extra for castration , and dehorning , regestation is different more then willing to pay registration
You have to do it all and 95% being a vet also
It’s work and not a play thing
Am learning and I appreciate your time I have 10 registered ewes and a registered ram. An excited about this series sir.
Very good! We are hopeful you will get some useful information out of our series. Our next video in the series will pertain to breeding stock selection.
@@LinessaFarms I look forward to it.
A really informative video! I’ve probably watched hundreds, and this is the first the really broke down the numbers in a way that new farmers need. Do you happen to have a sample cost analysis spreadsheet that I can download as a starting point? Thanks!!
We do not but this is something we are currently working on putting together. Thank you for the idea and thank you for taking the time to leave us a message. We appreciate it. 😬
Lol.im not thinking of making millions out of raising goats in my country.just wanted to stay healthy n young looking like you sir.anyway tnk you for the very informative vedios that you do.godbless you
I have found all your videos very helpful, thank you
Thank you for watching and for taking the time to leave a kind message. We greatly appreciate it.
Great videos. Thank you kindly
Thank you for watching and for taking the time to leave a kind message.
Another great video full of great information !!! TY !!!
Here in Jamaica I grass feed. I feed only a 1/4 lb grain daily.
Hello John! Thank you for watching our videos and thank you for taking the time to send us a message. 😁
Hello thanks for another informative video. Could you please help us with goat and sheep bedding? Specially on the summer time the ammonia smell on the shelter is horrible. What do you think about using stall refresher or DE? Thanks 😊
Airflow is the most important factor when it comes to keeping your shelter dry and clean. If you are experiencing ammonia or gas smells, chances are you don’t have adequate ventilation in your structure. Do your best to increase ventilation and developing a good equal amount of airflow across/through your shelter. We like to start with bare earth covered with a good amount of barn lime. We then cover with a thick layer of straw at least 4-6 inches thick. Also consider drainage and make sure anything wet will either drain or get absorbed through the ground. Depending on the amount of ventilation you have, you may need to consider fans or even an exhaust fan to pull air in and through.
On your last video we communicated about treating mange in my sheep.
I received the Dectomax today. There are no instructions on dosage for sheep. Only for swine and cattle. What dosage should I give them? How many days apart?
Thanks.
Hello. We usually dose at 1ml per 100 pounds given intramuscularly. You can repeat the injection after 7 days if needed.
If you go to LinessaFarms.com and go to the downloads section you can find a bunch of different medication charts to include a sheep and goat worming chart that should have most medications and dosages listed. 👍🏻
Thank you.
Do you have a cost analysis spreadsheet? Maybe one that does projections? I noticed no one talks about labor hours. How much do you earn per hour on your livestock?
We have our own private books we keep but we do not delve into this topic too much, as some other channels do. There are so many topics and considerations to be made, it is difficult. For instance, we own our hay fields but do not own the equipment to make or harvest hay, so this is outsourced. We also mix our own feed, but we also own a feed company. Another major consideration is time, which can vary widely depending on the amount of people you have helping and the setup you have. Then of course there is the weather, which can affect the prices of feed very quickly. I do believe Grace aka the Sheppardess offers some financial paperwork.
You are the best youtuber for me
Thank you! We appreciate you taking the time to leave us a kind message!
Great video. Thanks
Thank you for watching our videos and for taking the time to leave a nice comment.
Thank you tim
You’re welcome, Tony. Thank you for taking the time to leave us a message.
what if you're doing rotational grazing, and not doing any grains, would you save money
We’ve attempted to grow only on pasture and they simply don’t grow as well without grain addition. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done successfully. I just think grain provides an extra boost.
It absolutely can be done on grass only but it is a bit more labor intensive , particularly with setup and the sheep grow to their full size but they grow more slowly. The upside is that tou don't get all the extra horn and hoof that grain grows which then needs to be trimmed and the animals are not consuming something that their bodies arent ready designed to digest. Also, according to Greg Judy, the grass fed meat lasts longer in the freezer
@@TomiaMacQueen this is what we keep hearing online. It sounds really good. Unfortunately, it’s simply not realistic for most people. There are simply too many variables in play for the “average” person. The cost of land, fencing, livestock, the fees people have to pay to get “certified” by third parties, climate…. While we do understand the Greg Judy’s of the world and see their appeal, we also try to be honest with our viewer and let them know what they should realistically expect. For the average person out there who experiences 4 seasons a year and owns a couple acres, they will be buying hay and can greatly improve the overall health and well being of their flock with grain and minerals. For all intents and purposes, these people are dry lotting their livestock and will need to focus on coccidia, parasites, etc…
For those people who CAN pasture their animals primarily and maintain their overall health with no supplementation, we agree this is the best option.
We stand by our title: Most of you will lose money. For the average person, this is a hobby that if ran correctly on a good year, will pay for itself.
You are correct that any freshly processed meat that has not been gassed and manipulated, will last longer in the freezer (generally speaking).
Great video ❤
Thank you!!
I am thinking about get into goat 🐐 and sheep farming. I am thinking about buying the Kalahari Red goats and the Royal white sheep. Then maybe beef cattle, i am thinking about doing meat goats and sheep
Awesome
Thanks for watching. We appreciate you taking the time to leave us a message.
There’s good years and bad years, feeding sack feed can break you, control worms and meds is a costly mistake if you don’t stay on top of it
There really not our pets but for profit
Breeding and keep only the best
Feed prices are getting worse and sale barn prices are flat. We are seeing a lot of people getting out of livestock all together.
This is a real letdown. I was banking on making $500,000 a year from 3 goats and 5 quail.
Hope you got a good laugh from that. 😂
We only raise feeder sheep just for meat. They eat very little feed and are on grass the entire time. The Katahdin sheep do very well here in south Texas.
Very nice. Thanks for watching our videos and for the comment. Hopefully you will pick up some helpful tips in the upcoming series which will help you continue your success.
Why do you use grain? I never use grain. Grass grass grass
Thanks for watching.
Why in the world would I feed sheep hay 365 days per year? Grazing costs next to nothing if you own the land. You don't have to buy hay or feed hay. And grain also is totally unnecessary. I quit watching at that point, but I bet there was mention of deworming also because all gurus teach about deworming and probably something thrown in about shearing. Put hair sheep on pasture and do rotational grazing....no or minimal feed costs, no deworming and no shearing.....more profit per ewe.
You seem like you have a lot of insight so I’m sure you can accept the idea that a lot of our viewers don’t have land or resources to do what you’re describing. We were trying to make the point that not everyone is going to “make money” depending on their setup. We appreciate you watching our videos and taking the time to leave a message. It helps us out a lot.
Grazing varies in nutrients, not keeping that in mind is a great mistake and results in loss of production. The same with not following the right health regimen.